New Winch Bumper

CRDburnouts · **Posted:** Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:51 pm

I usually just stick to the CRD forum but I must share this with you all. I recently developed a 5th winch bumper option for 05-07 KJs. I wil begin production of these in the next several weeks. These pictures are of the mostly completed bumper and I will be figuring out how to close the gap where the marker lamps go to make it look more factory finished. I will be selling these for around $750. Let me know what you think...

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:32 pm

What winches will fit in it?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:36 pm

Are those shackle tabs just welded to the bumber face or go through the face and is welded to the main supports(ie-the main bumber mounts to the unibody)? How is that winch mount attached to the bumber face? Is it just welded to the bumber face or is the bottom plate part of the main support channels(ie-the bumber mounts)?How much does it weigh?

Noscapegoat · **Joined:** Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:45 am **Posts:** 104

not trying to be rude and I know thats a prototype. But I think you gonna have to clean up the design alot more to make it worth 850.

things to think about

What features set it apart from other bumpers on the market?

Light brackets?

Does it come painted or Powder coated or bare steel?

Jack points?

Holes pre drilled for winch?

Is there enough support for the winch?

Tested with a winch?

What thickness steel?

What gauge Tube?

Just some thoughts.

Things i like

Simplistic

doesn't stick out as far (except for the winch)

Doesn't appear to block as much airflow

Good luck
-John

CRDburnouts · **Posted:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:23 am

The D-rings on this one are about 1 1/2" outside the main line of support, through the tube and welded on both sides. The next ones will be through the center of the frame mount. The main tube is 2"x8" 3/16" wall rectangular tubing and the rest of the mounts and winch plate are 1/4". The winch plate accepts warn (m-8000or12000) or mile marker winches with remote solenoids and it is welded on both sides to the bumper face and stitch welded on the bottom of the plate. My friend is a professional welder and engineer and will be building these for me off of my design.

The bumper can come with any accessories or tabs you might want, the winch plate can also be converted to fit other winches like the XD9000i or HS9500. It will be ready to go with all holes pre drilled and hardware included. They will come painted black or dark primer to like in the pics or powdercoated for an additional fee.

We spent over 18 hours developing this bumper and yes it is a prototype. We expect the next ones to take 8-10 hours of total involvement including the bending of the winch plate off-site. It took a lot of trial and error to get the angles the way I wanted them and the plate on top was an interesting challenge. We may even be laser cutting the top skirt out of 12 guage in the future. For the money you will be getting a much better value with this bumper over others and also you can have it customized with light tabs, winch or no winch or even a stinger instead of the bar shown. Prices will vary.

spencevans · **Posted:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 2:29 am

I think that you have a good idea. The more you work on it the better it will get. This will provide owners with five choices but what makes it more desirable than the others? You have to be better than the others in one of the following areas; Price, function/durability, saftey, customization or looks. It appears to me that you are going for function and customization. It's a tough market, esspecially when Marty is underselling you by over $300 and he builds amazing bumpers. Good luck and keep us posted. I think this second effort is a big improvement over your original design and I hope you put some more effort into it. If you make more improvements I think you could sell some bumpers.

Current and future 05+ bumpers and estimated prices with shipping.

ARB $975 (powdercoated, crash tested and airbag compatible)
Trailready $1400 (powdercoated)
Rocklizard $650 (Media Blasted)
TJM $1000 (Powdercoated, crash tested and airbag compatible)
CRDburnouts $950 (raw metal)

CRDburnouts · **Posted:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 2:28 pm

Those are all way under what I was quoted, usually and the ARB retails for about $1100 so you would have to have a good source for that deal. With the exception of Rock Lizard, the rest of the bunch are way over-priced and will bend much easier. I figured that I could initally offer these for around $750, they will have EVERYTHING (except Airbag compatability, I did'nt even realize that had anything to do with the front bumper, there are no sensors what so ever) Base models with class III receiver hitch (like Rock Lizzard) will start at around $500,

Weight is around 90-100lbs with all the fixin's

spencevans · **Posted:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:52 pm

Yeah price is key when trying sell a product but so are features. All of the prices I listed were the price I was quoted two weeks ago. I ended up getting the TJM for several reasons. First, it allowed me to keep my OEM fog lights without relocating them. Second, the safety factor. Third, I wanted to keep the look of my 05+ grill. Lastly I wanted a permanate winch mount inside the bumper. Your bumper would have met many of these qualifications.

The TJM bumper was $850 plus shipping. The TJM is definately a stout bumper. It is a T17 model which is the strongest model TJM produces. TJM's build quality is equal to ARB. Currently you can pickup an 05+ ARB for around $975 from Sams offroad and that includes shipping. No one else even comes close to there price.

As far as being airbag compatible, the air bag sensors are not on the bumper but when they crash test the bumpers they make sure that the airbags deploy at the correct speed of impact. It is not neccesary to crash test a bumper to have it be a good bumper. The airbags will still be operational but you are not certain at what speed of impact that they will deploy.

Just put in a little more effort into the design and I think you'll have a winner.

CRDburnouts · **Posted:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:38 pm

Thanks for the words of encouragement, I hope i can perfect my design on the next one we build. Here a couple more photos after more primer...

CRDburnouts · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 7:31 pm

I am going to improve the approach angle on the next one by moving the winch up about 3". The light bar/grill guard will go tto the top of the grill and their will be more wrap-around on the sides.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 7:47 pm

Raising the winch will help as where it is now could be a real problem. Also raising the loop up more towards the top of the hood will give it a better look. Right now it looks like it was designed for a different vehicle. You are on the right track and you never hit just the right look on the first try. Keep it up youre almost there. :lol:

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Tue May 01, 2007 8:48 pm

Agreed. It's quite a bit heavier than what I'm looking for, for my own KJ but, I definitely think you're onto something that a lot of people are going to love. It looks like a beast, and with the customization that you're going for, I think you may just wind up with the best overall design. I think it looks pretty good, already. Just need a few tweaks, all of which you've mentioned. Might even change my mind about the Detours backbone setup, if you can make a nice looking stinger.

I'd still want it a little lighter, though, myself.

Good luck and I hope to see a final product soon.

New Winch Bumper

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